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Music

Rakim Returns to the Spotlight with a Luxurious Tiny Desk Concert

The iconic rapper performed new single "King's Paradise" before dropping into "Paid in Full" and "Know the Ledge."

Rakim, one of the architects of hip-hop's jazz and funk movements in the Golden Age, is back. He's been touring with Eric B again, reforming one of the genre's great duos, and last Friday he released a new solo single, "King's Paradise," for a new series of the Netflix superhero show Luke Cage. To punctuate his return, the 50-year-old New Yorker recorded an NPR Tiny Desk concert last week. He brought a massive band with him: A Tribe Called Quest DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammad on bass, 19-year-old jazz phenom Christone "Kingfish" Ingram on electric guitar, the polymathic Adrian Younge on keys, and a clutch of horn and string players to add some luxury to the band's smooth sounds.

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Rakim's unruffled delivery hasn't been troubled over time—he still spins his stories with an urgency that doesn't need volume or histrionics to make an impact. Dressed in a Yankees cap, a red shirt, and a single chain, he played "King's Paradise" before running through "Paid in Full" from Eric B & Rakim's 1987 debut of the same name, and "Know the Ledge" from 1992's Don't Sweat the Technique. Watch it in full at the top of the page.

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